Reuters: US plans to target Stuxnet to North Korea

Reuters has published information that US intelligence agencies planned to target malware similar to the Stuxnet worm at North Korea’s nuclear facilities, as they did five years ago in the case of Iran. It was assumed that when it hits the computer, the malware will be activated only if the Korean language settings are detected in the system. Malware deployers failed because they were unable to gain access to the main computers involved in the nuclear program.



The point is that the network of such main computers is isolated and uses a special architecture, which significantly impedes the conduct of cyber attacks. North Korea has one of the most closed communication networks in the world, and the use of the Internet is also taboo, with the exception of some high-ranking officials.

However, the nuclear facilities of North Korea and Iran have similarities that would allow Stuxnet to be adapted for cyber attacks and to North Korean facilities. In particular, similar objects are used for these objects by Siemens AG AG software, which functions in Windows OS.
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Like Iran, North Korea probably runs through Microsoft Corp. operating systems, experts said. Stuxnet took advantage of vulnerabilities in both the Siemens and Microsoft programs.